A dual-mode vehicle is a vehicle that can be both driven on the road in a land mode and takeoff, fly, and land as an aircraft in a flight mode. Vehicles that demonstrate such capabilities provide operators with expanded private travel options. Such vehicles, however, can require physical tradeoffs in design in order to facilitate operations in both the land mode and the flight mode.
For example, existing dual-mode vehicles with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capabilities include separate power sources for the rotors used in the flight mode and the wheels used in the land mode, adding weight and complexity to the dual-mode vehicle. Existing dual-mode vehicles with VTOL capabilities that implement wheel-based rotors are generally limited in rotor length to the diameter of the wheel and further lack rotor protection, restricting the overall size and weight of the dual-mode vehicle and subjecting the rotors to damage in the land mode.